BJP to attend all-party meet to end 2G logjam

New Delhi: The month-long standoff over an investigation by a Joint Parliamentary Committee into the 2G spectrum scam could end soon. Leader of Opposition and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj has decided to attend the meeting called by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to resolve the deadlock.

“We will attend the meeting called by the Honourable Speaker,” Sushma tweeted on Tuesday.

Meira has called the all-party meeting for the second time to end the impasse which paralysed Parliament’s winter session.

The meeting is scheduled to take place on December 30 and 31 in New Delhi.

The BJP has so far led a united Opposition against the government on the 2G spectrum investigation. The winter session of Parliament began on November 9 and witnessed repeated adjournments over the Opposition’s demand for an investigation by a JPC into the multi-crore 2G scam.

The Budget Session of Parliament is expected to start in the third week of February and the opposition leaders have threatened to stall the proceedings if the JPC demand was not met.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had on December 22 made a dramatic offer to the Opposition for a special Parliament session to debate on the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) in the 2G spectrum scam.

“The Government is ready to hold a special Parliament session if Opposition agrees to debate the JPC demand on the floor of the house,” Mukherjee had said.

However, BJP President Nitin Gadkari reacted coldly to the offer, saying there would no compromise on the opposition’s demand for a JPC investigation into the scam.

“It is the duty of the Opposition party to take the issue of national interest. The CAG report conveys that it’s a Rs 1.76 lakh of the scam. Is it not important that we need Parliamentary Committee on that?” Gadkari said while responding to Mukherjee’s offer.

On Monday, the Public Accounts Committee led by another senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi had met Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai. The CAG report put the estimated loss in the spectrum scam at Rs 1.76 lakh crore and the PAC wanted to know how he arrived at that figure.

The CAG team also comprised director generals RP Singh and RB Sinha. They explained the alleged illegalities involved in the award of 85 licences to six new companies by Raja.